Trophy for the FORMULA 1 PIRELLI GRAN PREMIO D’ITALIA, Monza 2026. Made by the artist duo vedovamazzei

Pirelli HangarBicocca has collaborated with Pirelli to create the trophy for the FORMULA 1 PIRELLI GRAN PREMIO D’ITALIA, Monza 2026, by entrusting its concept and implementation to the artist duo vedovamazzei.

 

Enjoy the making of  the trophy and the interview with vedovamazzei through our “Bubbles”!

 

The artist duo vedovamazzei has designed the trophy FRAGILE: a composite, mirroring sculpture that unites motorsports and contemporary art, bringing them to the racetrack.
Titled FRAGILE and signed by vedovamazzei, the trophy was produced in a limited edition of four: three for the drivers who will claim the podium at Monza on September 6, and one for the winning team representative. The piece is a layered composition of household objects —cups and small bowls— that take on an unsteady-looking vertical form when stacked on top of each other.

 

Through their research on the history of Formula 1 and visits to the Pirelli Foundation and Pirelli’s R&D laboratories, vedovamazzei developed a trophy rich in references – from Constructivism and Walt Disney’s animated films to metaphysics and the architecture of the absurd – that evokes Formula 1’s foundational values: speed, strength, balance, and control. The conception of this sculptural object required a traditional process of transposing drawings and sketches onto paper, followed by a highly technological 3D printing process using nylon powder. This material was then painted, galvanized, and polished until it became reflective.

 

The commissioning of the trophy from Italian artists is part of a multi-year project now in its sixth edition, initiated by Pirelli —the title sponsor of the FORMULA 1 PIRELLI GRAN PREMIO D’ITALIA 2026— in collaboration with the Pirelli HangarBicocca Museum of Contemporary Art. The commission awarded to vedovamazzei follows those assigned to Alice Ronchi (2021), Patrick Tuttofuoco (2022), Ruth Beraha (2023), Andrea Sala (2024), and Nico Vascellari (2025). The project is curated by Giovanna Amadasi, Head of Public and Educational Programs at Pirelli HangarBicocca.

 

The vedovamazzei duo was formed in 1991 in Milan through the collaboration of artists Stella Scala and Simeone Crispino. It has established itself in the contemporary art world for over three decades, and its works are included in major museums and private collections. Since the early 1990s, their artistic practice has existed at the intersection of irony and the ability to capture the contradictions and complexities of reality, while addressing pivotal themes that connect the past and present. Their areas of research include art history, cinema, literature, and popular culture. They draw references and citations from these fields to reinterpret pop icons, cultural symbols, and everyday objects, thereby highlighting the world’s paradoxical aspects.

 

Selected solo exhibitions (as of 2026)

• Milano Drawing Week 2025-V Edizione (2025)
• Timeline: 1991-2025. La vita disegnata dei vedovamazzei. Collezione Ramo, Milan (2025)
• PAC 2024 Piano per l’Arte Contemporanea promosso dalla Direzione Generale Creatività Contemporanea del Ministero della Cultura, winners vedovamazzei (2024)
• Museolaboratorio di Arte Contemporanea, Città Sant’Angelo, Pescara (2024)
• Roma arte in Nuvola. Progetto speciale. Focus vedovamazzei, Rome (2024)
• LRVM Repubblica di San Marino. Special Project. Torre Guaita, Galleria Civica di San Marino, Galleria Claudio Poleschi (2024)
• New Egg. Off – Giannoni e Santoni. Special Project. Villa San Quirico, Turin (2023)
• Early Works. Da Giotto a Hirst. Magazzino d’arte moderna, Rome (2023)
• PAC 2021 Piano per l’Arte Contemporanea varato dalla Direzione Generale per la Creatività Contemporanea del Ministero della Cultura, Premio Città di Fermo, winners vedovamazzei, Fermo (2021)
• Vedovamazzei presenta After Love 2020/2023, MAXXI, Rome (2020)
• Unexpected Landscapes. Galleria De Foscherari, Bologna (2018)
• The end of a work never made”. Three days performance at MAXXI, Rome (2014)
• No Necestitas Suerte. Istituto Italiano di cultura Madrid (2012)
• One too many 15 years later. A Palazzo, Brescia (2011)
• vedovamazzei. Le Temple Paris, Paris (2011)
• Public Art Projects Art 38 Basel, Basel (2007)
• Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Donnaregina, Naples (2006)
• Percy-Miller Gallery London (2005)
• Vedovamazzei. Praz Delavallade, Paris (2005)
• GAM, Turin (2004)
• Eldorado, GAMeC, Bergamo (2001)
• Vedovamazzei, Studio Guenzani, Milan (1998)
• Vedovamazzei, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne (1997)

 

Selected group exhibitions (as of 2026)

• Tragicomica. Prospettive sull’arte italiana dal secondo Novecento a oggi. MAXXI. Rome (2026)
• 18a Quadriennale. “Fantastica” di Luca Beatrice. Palazzo delle Esposizioni Roma. Fondazione La Quadriennale di Roma. Winners of the 2025 prizes of XVIII Quadriennale di Roma. Fantastica (2025)
• OTP. Orizzonte Terzo Paradiso. Oltre l’arte povera. Vernazza, Spezia (2024)
• From the Collection: Together-Collaborative Art Practices. S.M.A.C.K., Gent (2024)
• La pittura italiana oggi. Triennale Milano (2023)
• Collezione Fondazione Menegaz. “Opere scelte per un nuovo percorso”, Palazzo Clemente, Castelbasso, Teramo (2023)
• Goal. Fondazione Morra-Greco, Naples (2023)
• Comodato d’artista. Ambasciata italiana di Bucharest (2023)
• Opera Opera. Allegro ma non troppo, Palais Populaire, Berlin. In collaboration with MAXXI, Rome (2022)
• “Notturno più”, The Pool NYC, Biennale di Venezia, Palazzo Cesari Marchesi, Campo Santa Maria del Giglio, Calle Rombiaso, Venice (2019)
• Da io a Noi. La città senza confini. Palazzo del Quirinale, Rome (2017)
• Da Duchamp a Cattelan. Arte contemporanea sul Palatino, Rome (2017)
• Horizontal. Casa Italia. Rio de Janeiro (2016)
• Liberi tutti! Arte e società in Italia 1989/2001. Museo Ettore Fico, Turin (2015)
• Exquisite Corpse. Galerie Georges Philippe et Nathalie Vallois, Paris (2013)
• Non Basta Ricordare. MAXXI, Rome (2013)
• Sideshow “Dormitorio Pubblico Ugo Mulas 1954”, Galleria Campoli Presti di Paris (2012)
• Neon. La materia luminosa dell’arte, MACRO, Rome (2012)
• Rebus. Simon Lee Gallery, London (2011)
• Terrible Beauty Art, Crisis, Change & The Office of Non Compliance. Dublin Contemporary 2011, Dublin Biennial (2011)
• Cambiare il mondo con un vaso di fiori. Mudac-Museo di Design e Arti Applicate Contemporanee di Losanna (2011)
• Fit to Print: Printed Media In Recent Collage. Gagosian Gallery, New York (2007)
• Ironia Domestica” presso MUSEION, Bolzano (2007)
• Young Italian artists at the turn of the millennium. Galleria Continua, Beijing (2006)
• At the Outskirts of Humour the 22nd Hamburg International Short Film Festival, Hamburg (2006)
• Settlements, s’approprier un lieu. Musée d’Art Moderne de Saint Etienne Metropole, Saint Etienne (2004)
• Napoli anno zero. Qui e ora. Castel Sant’Elmo, Naples (2003)
• 3eme Biennale de Montrèal (2002)
• Over the Edges. S.M.A.K Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Gand (2000)
• 3Räume 3Flüsse. Hann Münden, Germany (2000)
• Ou sont les hommes? FRAC Fond Régional d’Art Contemporaine Languedoc Roussillon, Montpellier (2000)
• Migrazioni e multiculturalità. Award for Young Italian Art, MAXXI, Rome (2000)
• Balade en sol mineur. Une sélection des oeuvres du FRAC Fond Régional d’Art Contemporaine, Languedoc Roussillon, Montpellier (2000)
• Soggettività e Rappresentazione. Contemporary art Museum del Castello di Rivoli, Turin (2000)
• Mayday. Centre d’Art National, Neuchâtel, CH (1999)
• Fatto in Italia/Made in Italy. Centre d’Art Contemporain, Geneva. I.C.A, London (1997)
• Beyond the borders. Kwanjiu Biennal (1995)
• Campo ’95. Foundation Re Rebaudengo, Torino. Le Corderie, Venice. Konstmuseum, Malmö (1995)
• Prima linea. Flash Art Museum, Trevi, Perugia (1994).